University News

Appalachian Development Official Will Address U of M Graduates December 16
For release: Dec. 12, 2006
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Anne B. Pope, co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), will address graduates at both sessions of the University of Memphis’ winter Commencement on December 16 at FedExForum. The University will award a total of 1,491 degrees, including 33 doctorates.

At 10 a.m., the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Communication and Fine Arts, the University College, and the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law will confer degrees.

In the 2 p.m. ceremony, the Fogelman College of Business & Economics, the College of Education, the Herff College of Engineering, and the Loewenberg School of Nursing will award degrees.

Pope serves as the tenth federal co-chair of the ARC, an economic development partnership between the federal government and the governors of 13 states. The Commission initiates economic and community development programs and serves as a key advocate for the 23 million people who live in the Appalachian Region. It also oversees work on the 3,090-mile Appalachian Development Highway System, designed to connect the region to the nation’s transportation grid.

Pope previously served as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance and as the executive director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission. In the private sector she was president of Proffitt’s of the Tri-Cities Inc., a division of Saks Inc., and president and chief executive officer for the Parks-Belk Company.

A graduate of Vanderbilt University and the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, Pope is admitted to practice law in Tennessee and the District of Columbia. Her mother, Leslie Parks Pope, is serving a second term on the Tennessee Board of Regents, and her brother, Charles Parks Pope, is a 1992 graduate of the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the U of M.